Translation and Discussion of Choi Sung-Guk’s Labor Interrogation
| dc.contributor.author | Shaw, Allene D. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2021-08-05T23:24:04Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2021-08-05T23:24:04Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021-03 | |
| dc.description | 268 pages. | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | North Korean defectors living in South Korea face a paradoxical situation: they hold rights as citizens of South Korea, but experience “social exclusion and identity problems as the Other” due to a mass media system that perpetuates biased depictions of North Korean defector stories and a largely ignorant and prejudiced society (Park, 2019:314). Labor Interrogation, a webtoon (Korean online graphic novel) written by North Korean defector and United Nations honoree Choi Sung-Guk, attempts to combat this by depicting everyday life for defectors living in South Korea and demonstrating how differences in language and culture, as well as literal and symbolic interrogation from South Koreans, can make assimilation an uphill battle. Choi based Labor Interrogation on his and other defectors’ real experiences, and through their stories demonstrates the stumbling blocks that exist for defectors who are trying to create new identities in the South. For this thesis project I translated the first fourteen chapters of Labor Interrogation—of 46 chapters published online in Korean at Naver Webtoon from 2016-2017, and in paperback through publisher Koreaura in 2018—and explored this theme of identity-building. I met with Choi in Seoul periodically for interviews and discussions to supplement the translation, and I include excerpts from one of these interviews in the preface of my thesis along with an introduction of Choi and his personal goals for his work. In my analysis of Labor Interrogation, I argue that language, cultural norms, and societal attitudes towards defectors are obstacles for defector identity-building in South Korea. Choi’s work has the power to give Americans and others around the world a much-needed new perspective on North Koreans—that of humanity. He achieved this in South Korea to some extent—his work educated readers about defector experiences and prompted a nationwide discussion of how South Korea treats its resident North Koreans, as well as South Korean policies towards North Korea. I hope that this work will prompt some of this same sort of discussion in the United States. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1794/26577 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
| dc.publisher | University of Oregon | en_US |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | University of Oregon theses, Asian Studies Program, Honors College, B.A.;2021 | |
| dc.rights | Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-US | en_US |
| dc.subject | Choi Sung-Guk | en_US |
| dc.subject | North Korean defectors | en_US |
| dc.subject | social exclusion | en_US |
| dc.subject | cultural identity | en_US |
| dc.title | Translation and Discussion of Choi Sung-Guk’s Labor Interrogation | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis / Dissertation | en_US |